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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. club — for golf
  5. root — of a plant
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. degree — temperature
  10. band — a ring
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. degree — from a university
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. shower — to wash
  18. root — the cause
  19. club — a group
  20. degree — an amount
  21. march — the month
  22. field — for sport
  23. root — of a word
  24. nail — for a hammer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com